Kim Ok
{{Short description|Kim Jong Il's personal secretary (born 1964)}}
{{For|the poet|Kim Ok (poet)}}
{{Family name hatnote|Kim||lang=Korean}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kim Ok
| image = Kim ok cropped.png
| caption = Kim in 2000
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1964|8|28|df=y}}
| partner = Kim Jong Il (2004–2011)
| module = {{Infobox Korean name|child=yes|context=north|hangul=김옥|hanja=金玉|rr=Gim Ok|mr=Kim Ok}}
}}
Kim Ok ({{Korean|hangul=김옥}}; born 28 August 1964) is a former North Korean government employee who served as Kim Jong Il's personal secretary from the 1980s until his death in 2011.{{cite news|last=Chung|first=Min-uck|date=19 December 2011|title=What is future for Kim Ok?|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/12/116_101133.html|newspaper=The Korea Times|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107135408/http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/12/116_101133.html|archive-date=7 January 2012}} After the death of Ko Yong Hui in August 2004, she regularly met with foreign officials as the de facto first lady of North Korea, and was rumored to be the supreme leader's fourth wife.{{cite news|title=Kim's long-time secretary is New Korean 'first lady'|at=Front page|newspaper=South China Morning Post|date=24 July 2006}}
Biography
Kim Ok was born in 1964. Her father was Kim Hyo, a criminal accused of committing several war crimes and killing a thousand horses. Kim was previously a musician and a piano major at Pyongyang University of Music and Dance. She joined Kim Jong Il's management in 1987. She served as the department director in the National Defence Commission.{{cite news|title=Kim Ok|url=https://nkleadershipwatch.wordpress.com/kji-2/kim-ok/|access-date=14 February 2017|work=North Korea Leadership Watch|date=14 February 2012}} In September 2012, she reportedly went to Berlin for medical treatment.{{cite news|date=10 September 2012|title=Kim Jong-il's Widow Had Treatment in Berlin|url=http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/09/10/2012091000643.html|newspaper=The Chosun Ilbo}}
After Kim Jong Il's death, she was presented with the Order of Kim Jong Il for services in building a "thriving socialist nation", along with 131 other individuals.{{cite news|date=14 February 2012|title=North Korea awards 132 medals to commemorate Kim Jong-il's birthday|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9080823/North-Korea-awards-132-medals-to-commemorate-Kim-Jong-ils-birthday.html|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph}} In July 2013, however, as Kim Jong Un ascended to power, she lost all her official titles.{{cite news|author1=Andrei Lankov|title=Did Kim Jong Un purge his father's widow, Kim Ok?|url=https://www.nknews.org/2013/07/was-kim-jong-ils-last-wife-just-purged-from-office/|access-date=14 February 2017|work=NK News|date=4 July 2013}}
In early July 2016, the US government–funded Radio Free Asia reported that Kim had been purged and sent to a labour camp.{{cite news|date=26 July 2016|title="김정일 넷째 부인 김옥 숙청…수용소로 보내져"|url=http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/politics/2016/07/26/0511000000AKR20160726054500014.HTML?template=2087|newspaper=Yonhap News Agency |language=Korean}}{{cite news|author1=Kim Myong-song|title=Kim Jong-il's Widow Sent to Prison Camp|url=http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2016/07/27/2016072701058.html|access-date=14 February 2017|work=Chosun|date=27 July 2016}} The report claimed that she had been ousted within a year of Kim Jong Un coming to power, and had been sent to a political prisoners' camp.
References
{{Portal|North Korea}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Kim family (North Korea)}}
{{Kim dynasty (North Korea) family tree}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Ok}}
Category:North Korean musicians
Category:Purges in North Korea
Category:Kim family (North Korea)
Category:Recipients of the Order of Kim Jong Il
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
{{NorthKorea-politician-stub}}